Asylum stories: a socio-legal study of Iranian claims for asylum in the UK

Ramezankhah, Forough

Abstract

This thesis engages with the narratives of those individuals whose life stories and most personal experiences are displayed on a legal stage in a bid for international protection. These are individuals who have fled their country of origin in order to seek asylum in the host country. Their conduct then inevitably situates their stories in an international arena. The thesis argues against a linear causal understanding of asylum, whereby persecution occurs in the country of origin and the law in the host country determines the veracity of the claim. The thesis then proposes a triangular framework to evaluate the dynamic at play between the three components of: refugee law, international relations and the narrative of asylum seekers. Informed by Bourdieu, a tripartite model is devised to correspond with the abstract triangular framework. The tripartite model transmutes the components of the triangular framework into analytical elements having asylum seekers’ perspective at its centre. These are in turn: pre-asylum capital, Iranian post-revolutionary habitus and individual habitus. The thesis is a qualitative research and as such, its method of data generation is informed by Free Association Narrative Interview method (FANI). The tripartite model was applied to the case study of Iranian asylum claims. The data analysis revealed that one of the key determinants that affect claimants’ practice of asylum is their understanding and appreciation of refugee law, pre-asylum knowledge. The nature and the degree of this knowledge stems from claimants’ past experiences in the shape of their collective and individual habitus. The lack of pre-asylum knowledge causes claimants to be completely unaware of hidden legitimate asylum claims, therefore some overstate and some understate while others omit material parts of their claims. The thesis challenges the assumption that asylum seekers are able to present a coherent claim without prior legal advice.

Citation

Ramezankhah, F. Asylum stories: a socio-legal study of Iranian claims for asylum in the UK. (Thesis). Keele University. Retrieved from https://keele-repository.worktribe.com/output/1045855

• Thesis Type: Thesis
• Deposit Date: Jan 10, 2025
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 10, 2025
• Public URL: https://keele-repository.worktribe.com/output/1045855
• Award Date: 2013-07